Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2021

Herman Frederick Schroeder was born in Hemsloh, Hanover, Germany on July 26, 1854. His father, Frederick, died when he was six years of age, and the death of his mother, Margaret Sandman Schroeder, left him an orphan at the age of eleven.

In 1870 he came to America and settled at Belle Plaine. He was married there in 1875 to Marie Reinke, and they came to Shakopee the same year. This had been their home ever since.

Immediately after coming to Shakopee, Herman, in company with his brother, opened a brickyard which developed into the Schroeder Brick and Lime Manufacturing Company. It was one of the leading and most prosperous business enterprises of the city and was well known in the Northwest. Herman purchased his brother’s interest in 1896 and continued the business.

The brickyard was located north of Bluff Avenue between Market and Minnesota streets. The bricks were from near the Minnesota River, by Huber Park. Many of Shakopee’s early buildings were made from these bricks.

Many settler-colonists to Shakopee were German, and they preferred building with brick. This, coupled with the fact that shipping brick by river was very costly, guaranteed a constant demand for locally made bricks.

The Schroeder Brickyard possessed all the components needed for a successful brickmaking operation: a large and easily accessible supply of high quality clay; a large supply of wood to fuel the kilns and steam engines; a willing workforce; and proximity to a growing town.

Because brickmaking was an outdoor activity, it was limited to the warmer months of the year. When the temperature dropped below freezing, the bricks couldn’t dry properly before firing. During the winter months, workers of the brick yard were forced to find alternate employment or were left unemployed during the hardest time of the year.

Brick production at the Schroeder Brickyard was labor intensive compared to today’s methods. Excavating, mixing, and forming the clay into bricks was accomplished using only people, horses, and steam engines for power.

After the bricks were slowly cooled, they were graded, sorted, and stacked for shipment. In 1880 the Schroeder brickyard manufactured one million bricks.

Herman’s house was the red brick one on Bluff Avenue. He had five children, three girls and two boys. Two daughters lived in the house until they passed away. One girl died very young. When Herman Frederick Schroeder died Feb. 28, 1922, the boys ran the brickyard.

Many buildings in downtown Shakopee were made from brick manufactured at the Schroeder Brickyard. This business stayed in the family until it ceased operation in 1941.

The Shakopee Argus (Volume 61, Number 16, Page 1) noted Herman’s death:

“The community was shocked and grieved Tuesday evening when the news spread about town that Herman Schroeder, one of our best known citizens, had passed away almost without warning at 6:45 o’clock [February 28, 1922] at his residence in this city of pulmonary embolism.

“Since January 15 Mr. Schroeder had been confined to his home but had attended to business all of the time and was much improved until Friday. He had, however, been up and about and taken an interest in affairs to the last.

“Shortly before death he had eaten supper and apparently, as usual, conversing with the family and expressing no hint of any change to his condition. A few minutes later his daughter heard him moaning in an adjoining room and found him suffering with shortness of breath. Before aid summoned by her could reach him, he was beyond restoration, death coming quietly and peacefully without pain. His sudden passing was a great shock to the family and deep sympathy goes out to them in their keen sorrow and bereavement.”